The detective series Luther, starring Idris Elba, began in 2010 and ultimately ended after five chilling seasons. Each episode featured a different twisted psychopath. It was a bit like CSI, NCIS, but with even sicker serial killers. DCI John Luther often managed to cleverly apprehend them, but not without breaking some rules in the process. This often brought him into discredit with his colleagues and bosses, and in Luther: The Fallen Sun, it takes the ultimate toll: Luther himself ends up behind bars after killer David Robey uncovers his criminal past.
And with that, Netflix’s film immediately sets itself a difficult and unnecessary challenge. We all know Luther won’t spend 2 hours in jail. It’s only a matter of time before he either escapes or the police have to call on his help themselves. Unfortunately, neither option is very believable. And what’s even more regrettable is that they choose the first option: in my opinion, the most clichéd one.
I know it doesn’t take a genius mind such as the one of DCI John Luther; but be warned that this review will contain spoilers for Luther: The Fallen Sun.
An unnecessary prison break
Prison breaks have been done many times before. Sometimes in impressive ways, a lot more often in cheap ways. To fall into the first category requires careful planning and usually a lot of preparation time. For example, Prison Break took a whole season and The Shawshank Redemption took an entire movie, with quite a long runtime. As viewers, we were taken along in the detailed plans, and the logic was sold to us in a realistic way.
There’s no time for that in Luther: The Fallen Sun. After all, there’s still a maniacal killer on the loose. While in prison, Luther receives a taunting message from the murderer via a radio frequency.
Conveniently, the detective has contacts with some guards who help him escape without too much trouble. It seems like an obvious attempt to create action and spectacle when violence erupts in the prison. I don’t feel like I’m watching the old, familiar Luther. I just hoped he would quickly get out so the story could focus on what it does best: detective work and suspense.
Furthermore, I made a mental note not to dwell on the lack of realism in the escape scene for too long. It turned out I needed that mindset more often in the remaining movie, for example when Luther immediately puts on his iconic coat after the escape and walks around in public as if nothing has happened.
That all sounds quite negative. But the more I forced myself into the mindset described above, the more enjoyable the movie was to watch.
Andy Serkis as Gollum. Um… David Robey
The film is still quite unique and good at executing the sick murders. Those are the moments that reminded me of the beloved series. Murderer David Robey already looks creepy (actor Andy Serkis is also responsible for Gollum from The Lord of The Rings for a reason), and his actions are no less terrifying.
Through online surveillance, David has access to the most intimate secrets of his victims. He can easily blackmail and manipulate them. The moment when David’s victims jump one by one to their deaths to distract the police is a tense and gruesome scene. Chaos ensues, leading to more deaths on the ground level. It looks impressive, but it results in a somewhat disappointing chase in the train tunnel. Luther and David fight, and of course our (former) DCI comes out as the winner. Police officers run towards them, and you already know what’s going to happen.
Of course, the police again mess things up again. Luther wisely warns the officer to first handcuff the murderer, but the young cop has his own plan. Gollum, quick and sneaky as he is, plants his knife in the officer’s artery. It was a predictable moment, but it quickly gave way to a more emotional one.
Together with a second officer, Luther tries to tend to the wounded officer. The dying officer, Jamal, reveals that he worked on the case of Cameron Pell with Luther in the past. This case took place in the first episode of the second season of Luther. In my opinion, one of the best episodes, where a masked murderer threatened to kill a school bus full of children. By the way, Jamal was nowhere to be seen in that particular episode. He wouldn’t have lied to us on his deathbed, would he?
Luther does remember the officer and tells him that he did a good job. The officers decide to let Luther go to chase after the murderer.
The classic ingredients: a mole and personal involvement
Meanwhile, we discover that David Robey has a mole within the police force: Inspector Archie. It’s a classic trick from the book that always conveniently allows the killer to escape from tight situations and stay one step ahead of his pursuers, as long as it serves the plot.
Speaking of the police, I haven’t mentioned DCI Odette Raine yet, the new head of Serious and Serial Crime. This position was previously held by old acquaintance Martin Schenk, who returns in Luther: The Fallen Sun as a consultant.
After a creepy scene, Raine’s daughter Anya also falls prey to David, raising the personal stakes even further.
Raine and Luther decide to work together and visit David’s ex-wife Georgette. There, they find out that David is running a Red Room from Norway.
No way! A Red Room?! What is a Red Room?
According to urban legend, a Red Room is a place where a victim is murdered and/or tortured. This is broadcast via a live connection to (sick) visitors on the dark web. These visitors are said to be able to vote on the manner in which the victim is killed or tortured. Visitors often have to pay a big amount of bitcoins to gain access.
Since live streaming on the dark web is not possible in the required resolution, fortunately there is no evidence that these red rooms actually exist. However, there are many scams pretending to be one:
Trip to Norway
While Luther and Raine travel to Norway, the mole is lured into a trap by Schenk. They catch the corrupt inspector trying to silence Robey’s ex-wife, which was of course anticipated by Luther. There is a brief dialogue about the fact that Archie was blackmailed for something ironically very little. Unfortunately, as viewers, we never find out what that was because Archie immediately commits suicide. This makes the whole “mole” story somewhat pointless and reveals itself as nothing more than a convenient plot device.
In Norway, Luther and Raine discover a lot of corpses under the frozen water. Chilling in all sorts of ways. They are clearly in David Robey’s playground. After entering a mansion, they hear Raine’s daughter screaming for help through a recording. The teenage girl, along with a number of mannequins, has been hanged and is dead. Or is she? Since a bag is tied around her head, viewers will quickly wonder if it’s really her. However, the head of Serious and Serial Crime needs a little more time to figure that out. In her defense, it is not our daughter who is presumably hanging there, and she probably didn’t watch the first five seasons of Luther.
Before Raine discovers that the victim is not actually her daughter, she sends Luther away in a fit of rage. Instead of waiting around the corner, Luther sets out to investigate and Raine is left alone. There, she is attacked by one of Robey’s henchmen. Luther suffers the same fate, and soon the duo finds themselves captured in the Red Room.
A gruesome live-stream
Robey hosts his show there under the watchful eye of dozens of cameras and sick minds. The thought that there are likely many morbidly curious spectators who would tune in from the safety of their own homes is unsettling.
Raine’s daughter Anya is also being held captive in the Red Room. Robey uses her to force Raine to stab Luther. Our Idris has faced hotter fires, so he can handle that. Luther is then forced to crush Raine’s kneecap with a hammer. Luther appears to actually think about doing it, but he’s not fooling us. Who he is fooling, though, are the spectators. He tells them that their IP addresses are being traced and the police are on their way. As a result, the majority quickly drop out.
Luther starts playing a psychological game with Robey and preys on his insecurity. A fight breaks out and Robey escapes before the grand final starts. Before that happens, Raine and her daughter still have to escape from the Red Room, which is about to go up in flames. As if that wasn’t challenging enough, they are also accompanied by one of Robey’s friends. Action scene, race against time, everything is thrown at us while Luther is hot on Robey’s heels. They continue their fight in a moving car that ends up in the water.
Our hero manages to grab Robey’s phone and unlocks the door to the Red Room. Raine and her daughter make their escape. Robey doesn’t make it out of the frozen water in time and suffers the same fate as his frozen victims. One could say Luther poured cold water on his plan.
Luther is rescued by the always reliable Schenk; all’s well that ends well.
At the end of Luther: The Fallen Sun, the detective is picked up by a group of talking suits. Government representatives compliment him on a job well done. The film ends with the words, “Chief would like to have a word with you.” This leaves the door wide open for a sequel. The question is, will we be there for it?
Conclusion
Luther: The Fallen Sun relies on a handful of strong moments. The over-the-top spectacle does the film more harm than good. It’s always nice to see Idris Elba donning his grey coat again. The moments where victims find themselves in the clutches of a maniacal serial killer are still frightening.
However, Netflix’s film is filled with moments where it disregarded any form of realism. Many of the spectacular moments were unnecessary for the story and could have been resolved differently, such as the entire prison setting. Luther: The Fallen Sun tries too hard to be something it’s not, and hopefully never will be.
When the inevitable sequel arrives, I hope the creators focus more on the intimate, unsettling moments. A cat-and-mouse game between killer and victim, and Luther and the killer. Without all the unnecessary bells and whistles. Focused on the case itself.
Additionally, I hope Luther’s brilliant mind won’t be so underexposed in a sequel as it was in this film. Clues often come about in an illogical way, while that was something the series was good at. In my opinion, this film barely passes, and the sequel should be of a completely different caliber. Perhaps the presence of Alice Morgan (Ruth Wilson) could give the sequel a needed boost? Until then, it looks like Idris Elba needs to carry the show/film himself.
